The present invention broadly relates to material handling equipment and, more specifically, concerns a new and improved construction of a transfer apparatus for loads, especially pallets and similar piece goods.
Generally speaking, the transfer apparatus of the present development serves for the transfer of loads, especially pallets and similar piece goods, between a stationary chain conveyor and a conveyor device equipped with, in particular, a conveyor track extending at right angles or perpendicular to the conveying direction of the stationary chain conveyor, and the load transfer is accomplished by means of a rail-bound displacement carriage which can travel to a limited degree upon its support.
Such type of transfer apparatuses serve to transfer conveyed loads from one conveyor track to another conveyor track arranged essentially at right angles or perpendicular to the first mentioned conveyor track. Generally, there are employed for this purpose stationary short conveyor tracks having rail or track-bound displacement devices in the form of overhung and elevationally displaceable support forks, or in the form of displacement lift carriages. The conveyed loads are lifted from one conveyor track, transported to another conveyor track and, at that location, again deposited upon such other conveyor track.
With a pallet transfer station of the type disclosed in German patent publication No. 2,419,943, there is used as the transfer element one such rail or track-bound and elevationally displaceable support fork which can be introduced beneath the pallet, lifted-off of a stationary chain conveyor, displaced in its rails or track, and then again deposited upon a second chain conveyor arranged essentially at right angles to the first chain conveyor.
A second construction of similar type of transfer station has been disclosed in German Pat. No. 2,032,295. Here, there is used as the transfer element a rail-bound displacement lift carriage which travels beneath the conveyed load and lifts such out of a roller conveyor track, so that following a brief horizontal travel of the load upon the displacement lift carriage such load can be again deposited upon a chain conveyor arranged at right angles to the roll or roller conveyor track.
Both of these state-of-the-art load transfer apparatuses require complicated lift devices in order to lift the conveyed load off of one conveyor track and to again deposit such upon the other conveyor track. Additionally, each conveyor track, which terminates at right angles with respect to the other conveyor track, requires its own transfer station. Both of the aforementioned drawbacks become that much more prevalent if there are provided a great number of transfer stations or locations within a conveyor installation. An additional drawback with the prior art installations resides in the fact that, during each transfer operation there must be accepted standstill times, since the conveyed loads only can be transferred when they are stationary.